Field Hockey Earns Rainy-Day Win At Liberty

Sunday, October 2

Lynchburg, Va.

1 p.m.

North Carolina

(9-0)

Liberty

(7-4)

North Carolina

Liberty

UNC improved to 9-0 on the season with a 6-3 win at Liberty Sunday.

Photo by: Matthew Reynolds/Liberty Athletics

October 2, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The top-ranked North Carolina field hockey team stayed undefeated with a 6-3 win over No. 14 Liberty Sunday afternoon at the Flames' Liberty Field Hockey Field. Playing in a steady drizzle, senior Erin Matson scored the gamewinner for Carolina (9-0) on an early penalty stroke then added three more for the fourth four-goal game of her career.

"We're really excited to come away with a big win on the road on a rainy day," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "I thought our preparation going into this game was outstanding and it needed to be because Liberty is so dangerous – we knew we had a battle on our hands to play at their place.

"I'm thrilled with our kids – Erin played very well, Meredith Sholder continues to play well, Lisa Slinkert had a big goal early that helped open the door."

Next up for the Tar Heels is a road trip to the Northeast to play at Boston College Friday and at UConn next Sunday. Those games wrap up a string of six-in-seven away from home for UNC, which next plays in Chapel Hill on Oct. 14 against Syracuse.

Matson's first goal came in the fifth minute of play. On UNC's first penalty corner opportunity of the day, Ashley Sessa's shot was kept out of the cage by a defender's leg and the Tar Heels were awarded a penalty stroke. Matson nailed it to put her team up 1-0 early.

Just over two minutes later, UNC made it a two-goal lead on a score by sophomore Lisa Slinkert. Ryleigh Heck passed her the ball on the baseline and Slinkert drove then popped a shot over the Liberty keeper for her fifth goal of the season.

The Flames answered in the 10^th minute on their first penalty corner of the day. The goal, by Lizzie Hamlett, was the first that UNC has given up in exactly a month, since a 4-3 win over Princeton on Sept. 2. Since then the Tar Heels had put together a string of five consecutive shutouts, the team's longest streak since the 2011 season.

The score stayed within one until just before halftime. With 23 seconds on the clock, Matson scored in transition, blasting a shot from just inside the arc to make it 3-1 UNC heading into the break.

"I particularly liked the goal that we scored right before the half to make it 3-1," Shelton said. "We moved the ball very patiently and worked to create an open shot. I thought that was a big goal and a team goal."

Coming out of halftime, UNC scored the next three in a row during a span of just over 12 minutes. Four minutes into the third quarter, sophomore Kelly Smith – who had just made a defensive save – passed the ball into the circle to Matson. When the keeper came out to challenge, Matson passed to senior Paityn Wirth, who shot behind the keeper into the open cage for her second goal of the season.

In the 42^nd minute, Matson scored again, on a pass into the circle from senior Romea Riccardo. And Matson added one more, gathering a rebound to score on the second shot of a Tar Heel penalty corner and make it 6-1 in the 47^th minute.

Matson's nine-point day brought her to exactly 300 points for her career. She's six points away from the Atlantic Coast Conference's career scoring record.

Liberty, which led the nation in scoring with 4.56 goals per game coming into the weekend's action, scored twice in the game's final 6:01, with goals from Pima Iturraspe and Bethany Dykema to make the final score 6-3.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game and I'm proud of our team," Shelton said, whose team practiced in the rain on Friday in part to prepare for what was expected to be a wet afternoon in Lynchburg. "Preparation is vital and I felt like our kids just prepared so well. It was a good week and a good culmination with this big win."

No. 1 UNC 6, No. 14 Liberty 3
Scoring: UNC – Erin Matson (penalty stroke), 4:46; UNC – Lisa Slinkert (Ryleigh Heck), 6:55; LU – Lizzie Hamlett (Jodie Conolly), 9:53; UNC – Matson, 29:37; UNC – Paityn Wirth (Matson), 34:05; UNC – Matson (Romea Riccardo), 41:08; UNC – Matson, 46:16; LU – Pima Iturraspe (Hamlett), 53:59; LU – Bethany Dykema (Daniella Rhodes), 56:30
Shots: UNC 16 (5/1/6/4), LU 6 (2/1/1/2)
Penalty corners: UNC 5 (1/0/3/1), LU 2 (1/0/0/1)
Goalkeeper saves: UNC 2 (Abigail Taylor, 30:00, 1 goal allowed, 2 saves; Kylie Walbert, 30:00, 2 goals allowed, 0 saves); LU 4 (Azul Iritxity Irigoyen, 60:00, 6 goals allowed, 4 saves)
Defensive saves: UNC 1 (Kelly Smith), LU 1 (Bethany Dykema)
Records: UNC 9-0, Liberty 7-4